In addition to being thrown out of the race, Stevic received a fine of 1,000 Swiss Francs (or roughly 1,400 Tunisian Dinars), which is equal to what both of the participants in the infamous post-Stage 6 front wheel bludgeoning incident were charged. Incidentally, it's worth noting that this fight was broken up in part by former professional cyclist and Versus commentator Frankie Andreu:

Who charged boldly into the scrum despite having only a pair of flip-flops and a bib bearing the number "69" for protection:

In any case, I think the UCI is making far too much of these supposedly "obscene" victory salutes, and as long as the "pants yabbies" remain inside the bibs everything else is fair game.

Speaking of "fair game," among Floyd Landis's allegations was the claim that the Discovery Channel cycling team sold their team bikes for drug money, and while team director Johan Bruyneel of course denies the drug part he has confirmed that the team indeed sold bikes on eBay:

Intrigued that I might perhaps be able to score a good deal, I headed straight over to eBay, and while I was unable to find any bicycle offerings from any Bruyneel-"curated" teams I did find a brace of Garmin-Slipstream bikes. There was a road bike:

Both had been raced in the 2009 season, and both were being offered by a seller named "jonathanrider1," along with numerous other pieces of Garmin-Slipstream kit. Since to my knowledge there were no riders named Jonathan on Garmin-Slipstream in 2009 (and since the bikes were different sizes), I dismissed the idea that this was a former team member making a private sale. This left only one Jonathan--team director Jonathan Vaughters. Clearly, I had stumbled upon his brazen scheme to sell team bicycles in order to either fund a doping program, or else to fund his insatiable wine, tweed, and ascot habit.

Of course, anybody who's either followed cycling for awhile or hunted for online bargains knows that lots of this pro cycling crap eventually winds up on eBay one way or another, and without a subpoena I have no way of knowing for sure who "Jonathanrider1" really is, so while I briefly considered taking my Garmin-Slipstream discovery to Floyd Landis I opted instead to help indirectly by making a sizeable donation to the Floyd Fairness Fund.

As Landis explained back in 2007, the Floyd Fairness Fund was "a fund set up first of all primarily to cover the legal fees in my case and hopefully in future to help other athletes who have to deal with this also." This raises the interesting question as to whether Landis will make Floyd Fairness Fund funds available to the numerous riders he has named in his confession. This would save them the indignity of having to sell their own bib shorts.

While some people outside of New York City might find this shocking, the only thing that surprises me about the actual incident is that the police even bothered to give the victim a tissue. Of course, the only reason the officers are actually being charged for this is because the incident was caught on video, and the unfortunate truth is that the only way we can expect the people whose salaries we pay to be accountable for their actions is to surrender any semblance of privacy--or at least keep video cameras strapped to our heads at all times. Failing that, it's helpful to keep in mind that, like any large company, in practice the police department exists not to serve its ostensible purpose but rather to sustain itself and protect its own interests. (Until you get to the federal level, of course, where law enforcement agents spend your money on important work, like investigating celebrity athletes.) To put it in "Zenlike Vroonenese," while Apple may be able to get away with selling you an overpriced phone that is susceptible to a "death grip," the police can get away with putting you in a death grip. The crucial difference is that Steve Jobs can't actually force you to buy the phone.

In Portland, this sort of thing is considered a serious crime, but in New York City it's just a Craigslist "missed connection."

Speaking of crime and surveillance cameras, a reader in Philadelphia has sent me this video of a bicycle theft in progress:

Unable to get the bicycle over the street sign, the thief actually enlists a neighbor, who not only helps him but also lends him a ladder, proving that Philadelphia is indeed the city of brotherly love.

The story follows a 20-something-year-old bike messenger who somehow gets involved in a chase across New York City. And we’re not just talking about a little chase but big budget William Friedkin-style action sequences. Apparently a dirty cop is “desperate to get his hands” on an envelope the messenger received from Columbia University.

Presumably we'll have to wait for the movie's release to find out what's in the envelope, but my guess is it contains photographs of the dirty cop running down a cyclist.

ugh, the cops in brooklyn. one day they're going to kill someone in Prospect Park: racing around, "patrolling," while kids totter back and forth in the road attempting to learn to ride. one day, splat.

The real question about the Joseph Gordon Leavitt chopped and flipped bars is what's up with the brake? What self-respecting aggro bike messenger would ride with one of those? Are they gonna remove it in post?

I'm unaware of any Mpls ride-by butt gropers ( unless "in my mind" counts ), but thirty years ago, there was supposedly a butt-slasher. As the story goes, this guy would drive up next to a woman on her bike, and "put the mark of Zorro" on her shorts - occasionally drawing blood. It could be nothing more than urban legend, and none of the womens' butts I've inspected since then showed any such telltale scars.

Also still an urban legend: the "helmet-mounted downblouse cam" - I haven't yet figured out the right aperture & focal length to use.

Just as ride-by groping in Portland is a serious crime, while in NYC it's a "missed connection", I suspect boosting some elses bike is a "serious crime" in NYC, while in Portand, it's considered "sharing a community resource".

I watched that fight during the Tour de France with my 12 year old daughter who laughed out loud and said, to me, "You guys are such sissies." Then there was a commercial on Versus for cage fighting to emphasize what she just said.

Floyd Landis is now racing in the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, OR. He showed up last night for the 2 mile prologue time trial and USA Cycling would not let him wear a jersey with sponsor logos. He raced in a freaking grey t-shirt. Photo here...

"Frankie says Relax"? and a man "who charged boldly into the scrum despite having only a pair of flip-flops and a bib bearing the number "69" for protection"? Is this cycling or a scene from Carson Kressley's favorite film? BSNYC you're only re-inforcing zenbicyclist daughter's opinion of us. Now where did my leg razor go?

OK. In Beverton, a 43-year-old woman was "grabbed" on the buttocks, while a 54-year-old woman was slapped on the same bodily feature. Is this two different "perps," or the same guy and a case of age discrimination?

Hey, Bikesnob, what's the deal with your book these days? According to Amazon, it should be available to ship some time in 2036. I know this is not your fault, but do they tell you about this stuff? Long term back-order is lame as hell.

For Sale: Slightly used silver Sugino 75 crank arms (175) and Sugino 75 chainrings (48 & 38) URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/Sugino-75-Crankset-175-144-BCD-Sugino-Chainring-/250667124862?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Cycling_Parts_Accessories&hash=item3a5cecc87e Cranks are in great condition and read, "High Strength and Precision Sugino 75) on one crank spider (see photo) , threads for pedals are perfect, some blemishes, and minor scratches. Comes with a 48 & 38 Sugino 75 chainring. No reserve. Will be shipped for free and properly, with deliver confirmation. Thanks and feel free to ask any questions. Listing is for all items. Local pickup is available. I used this crank setup before posting and it works superb.

Is it just me or do the key words for the bike ad in Vivek Jena's post remind anyone else of the newspaper ad for the lost dog with three legs, one eye and a case of mange that answers to the name Lucky?

Mr Snob, I liked that the last sentence today was the punch line for the whole post.

bgw, don't give up - try painting some coloured stripes on them.

Lastly, while on the topic of refinement... CC mentioned handcrafted shoe lace nibs yesterday. I am writing to confess that I sport handmade shoe lace nibs on the ride to work.

After cutting off the inferior plastic nibs I whip the ends of my work boot laces with 100% linen thread and then massage in an epoxy adhesive to create a composite monocoque nib. WHIP then MASSAGE the COQUE - a simple mnemonic device to help remember the process.

The handcrafted nibs on my work boots were the highlight of my kit today, followed closely by my grey cotton time trial t-shirt. Mine is dark grey, the Floyd Landis fan must have bought out the light grey ones. From there the scarier reaches of Nu-Fredlyness were explored - slicks on full suspension mountain bike, reflective striped road worker vest, large backpack etc.

This is the honest truth, and while I'm at it I might as well admit to Nogocyclist that I don't drink my tea out of a humble and affordable leather boot, but in fact prefer a reciptacle moulded out of melted credit cards.

ok first time for everything. Looks like he is wearing a Chrome bag for the movie and when you look at the other cleb photos he is zooming out with what looks to be a Manhattan Portage and wearing it left swing. In the movie he is doing the traditional right swing. That must be the acting part.

Oh that’s odd… I was assaulted by one of their film crew while riding my bike in the city on Saturday. A guy working on a movie about a bike messenger tries to knock bicyclist off bike to keep him from riding down a street where filming wasn’t even happening. Columbia Pictures needs to get their act together.

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About Me

While I love cycling and embrace it in all its forms, I'm also extremely critical. So I present to you my venting for your amusement and betterment. No offense meant to the critiqued. Always keep riding!